


Fire and Steel

by IronDuke_37



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: I can dream can't I?, Jeongdao for life, M/M, firebender/swordsman relationship, maybe more than bros, navy bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8735017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronDuke_37/pseuds/IronDuke_37
Summary: This is my first upload here and I suck at titles and summaries. Basically, this is my version of how Jeong-Jeong and Piandao met, I guess???





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real and completed fanfic. I would love any constructive criticisms that you may have. Just... Be gentle with me, it's my first time.

The two men met on a Fire Navy ship in the midst of a war when their ship had been invaded by the Northern Water Tribe's own navy ship. There were explosions all around the two men as they ran about the deck with the rest of the crew, dodging swords and whips made of water. The explosions were deafening along with the clinking of metal on metal and the splashing and hissing as sword met sword and water met fire. It was the dead of night but it was far from quiet as the two men’s faces were repeatedly illuminated by blasts of fire and sparks from swords.

The shorter of the two men had wild black hair that he never tried to control while the taller man usually had his black hair neatly pulled into a ponytail, but in this moment as he made countless strikes with his blade, his bangs had fallen into his face. The shorter man had golden eyes, the color of sunlight shining through a glass of whiskey, while the taller man had silver eyes, somewhere between the color of the moon and the color of the blade that he was currently wielding.

The two men were fighting their own respective opponents and slowly backing towards each other, though they had no idea how close they were until their backs touched and they both reeled around to face one another. Their expressions went from defensive to friendly then back to defensive as they both turned back towards the Water Tribe's warriors. They put their backs together and moved as one well-oiled machine. Flashes of steel from the taller man's sword and bright flames erupting from the shorter man's fists.

Once they had bested their opponents they paused for a moment, turning to face each other cautiously.

"Jeong-Jeong," yelled the shorter man, trying to make himself heard over the explosions and assorted sounds that came with a battle.

"Piandao," said the taller man, matching the shorter ones volume for the same reasons.

 

~~~

 

The next day, the entire crew was given the task of cleaning the decks the battle had taken place on. Jeong-Jeong and Piandao were assigned the same deck and they worked next to each other. The silence between them was somehow uncomfortable, this confused them both as they were trained warriors, conditioned to never make small talk while they work and only focus on the task at hand. Still, there was an odd tension between the two as they scrubbed soot from a wall. 

The two didn't stop scrubbing and never made eye contact as one broke the silence.

"Your name is Piano?" Jeong-Jeong said in an amused whisper, only just loud for Piandao to hear.

"Piandao," he corrected trying to hide his smile. "And you are John-John?"

"Jeong," said the shorter man, not bothering to hide the odd smile that slowly spread across his face.

 

~~~

 

The two men became fast friends over the next couple of years but their friendship was cut short when Jeong-Jeong lost his temper one day. It wasn't Piandao that he was angry with; he could never bring himself to be angry with that man. It was the soldier saying nasty things about the aforementioned swordsman. Though Jeong-Jeong would never tell Piandao that was the reason he lost his temper that day. 

Jeong-Jeong had been sitting on the floor of the highest deck, legs crossed and hands resting on his knees with his palms up. His eyes were closed and there was a single candle beside him, flickering in perfect time with his steady breathing. 

"Have you and Piandao gotten engaged yet?" said the solider who had walked up behind where Jeong-Jeong sat.

Jeong-Jeong didn’t open his eyes but his expression hardened and the flames of the candle beside him flared before dying back down. 

“Sensitive subject, Admiral?” the soldier sneered. Jeong-Jeong concentrated on keeping the flame of the candle steady with his eyes still closed. “The whole ship has started to suspect that there’s something more than friendship between the two of you.” The soldier paused to see if he would get a reaction, he didn’t so he continued in the same sneering tone. “No two men should ever do what you’ve been doing in the middle of the night. It’s unacceptable on a Fire Navy ship of our reputation.” The candle’s flame slowly climbed as the soldier talked but by now he had become so wrapped up in his speech that he barely noticed the growing flame. “Especially not from you,” he continued, “you’re the most-feared admiral in the Fire Navy. You should both be exiled… Though not together, you’d enjoy that too much.”

Something in the soldier’s sneering tone finally snapped the little self-control that Jeong-Jeong had been clinging to. Jeong-Jeong jumped to his feet and the soldier backed up several steps as the candle's flame flared fifteen feet into the air. Jeong-Jeong was in front of him before he could comprehend what was happening, with that same lighting speed, Jeong-Jeong punched him once in the gut and twice in the face before slamming him into a wall and holding him with his left hand by the collar while holding his right fist high in a pose that was ready to attack.

"Never. Talk. To. Me. Again." Jeong-Jeong said, the flames on his fist gradually getting bigger and brighter with each syllable.

He reared back his flaming fist and - 

"ADMIRAL" a booming voice behind him yelled.

His eyes never left the soldier's as he slowly loosened his grip and let the flames on his hand die down. He felt a firm hand on his shoulder just before the soldier slipped away from him. 

He had made up his mind but he had no idea how he would tell Piandao.

 

~~~

 

Jeong-Jeong and Piandao were standing side-by-side looking out over the waters, watching land grow nearer and nearer with each passing moment. Jeong-Jeong still hadn't gathered the courage to tell Piandao what had happened two days ago, but he had a feeling that the taller man knew something was wrong as Jeong-Jeong had locked himself in his quarters for the past two days, not wanting to make contact with any of the other's aboard the ship.

"What happened?" Piandao whispered as he watched the waves.

"What do you mean?" asked Jeong-Jeong nervously as he chanced a sideways glance at the tall man.

"You know very well what I mean," he said.

Jeong-Jeong bowed his head and rested his elbows on the railing, staring at his bare feet.

"I..." he started. He paused for a moment and gathered his breath. "I attacked a captain..." He could hear Piandao heave a deep sigh beside him and looked up to see a smirk on the taller man's face.

"I told you that your temper would get you discharged," was all he said as the ship slowly came to a stop at the dock.

“I wasn’t discharged,” said Jeong-Jeong, rather defensively. “ _I_ ordered this ship to head to dock.”

“Why?” whispered Piandao, after a moment of silence. 

“Because I can’t stand this war!” Jeong-Jeong shouted, fire appearing in a ring around him but dissipating as quickly as it had come. “I can’t stand the killing. I can’t stand the complete disregard for human life. I can’t stand the destruction. I can’t stand the Fire Nation. I can’t stand what I’ve become.”

Piandao was silent as the ship docked because he had had all of those same thoughts recently but could never gather the courage to walk away from it. He was never quite sure if it was by fear or by pride that he stayed.

“I hope this isn’t goodbye forever, Piano.” That was the last sentence that Piandao heard the shorter man say as he watched him grab the bag at their feet and jump over the railing, onto the dock. 

“ADMIRAL JEONG-JEONG,” yelled the Vice Admiral as he ran up to where Piandao stood, still watching the man’s back as part of himself seemed to walk away with his retreating form. 

“He’s not coming back,” said Piandao, never tearing his eyes away from Jeong-Jeong. “We disgust him.”

 

~~~  
~~~  
~~~

 

Years and years later, Piandao decided to join the Order of the White Lotus, to help preserve knowledge and enjoy the game of Pai Sho. 

He walked into his first meeting and saw a familiar man at the Pai Sho table across from a short balding man who had his silver hair in a bun on the top of his head. He stopped in his tracks and stared at the man with unruly white hair. The man seemed to have sensed eyes on him and turned his head to face those eyes. 

Jeong-Jeong's eyes grew wider as he recognized Piandao. He stood up so quickly that the Pai Sho table toppled over, neither of them realized this though as they were sharing a tight embrace seconds later. 

Iroh stared in dismay at the knocked over table, scattered Pai Sho tiles, and spilt tea.


End file.
